Black Ice
by Archaeologist-Iz
Summary: Bunnymund/Jack story. While fighting Pitch for a second time, one of the Guardians is badly hurt.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first fan fiction attempt. I find it difficult writing about characters that aren't actually created by me, so I figured I'd give it a shot and see how it goes. I kinda loved the Rise of the Guardians movie and have a soft spot for the Bunnymund/Jack couplings. So,**

**Warning: Contains mature themes (especially in later chapters), if you do not like boyxboy romance please do not bother reading, and there will be blood! Enjoy~**

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It only hurt a little bit. The pressure against his chest was actually beginning to feel nice and warm, a feeling Jack often didn't feel. No, he felt 'warm' once. Bunny had hugged him, but that was only for a second.

3…4…5… seconds passed and Jack smiled, his vision becoming hazy and the voices around him fading. They sounded… panicked? They must not feel the same warmth he did.

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"Jack!" Tooth screeched when she saw the large spirals of blackened sand surround the frost child. She normally wouldn't have screamed, knowing that Jack Frost was more than capable of handling himself in these tough situations, but before his body was covered completely by darkness she saw small droplets of red blood fall to the ice below.

The scream caught North's attention, glancing in Tooth's direction just as he swung his sword. The large swords smacked into the hard, compacted sand-nightmare, but once again didn't do much damage. North yelled out to Tooth, who was buzzing quickly towards the spiralling sand that surrounded Jack. "Tooth, don't! Your wings!" He shouted. Her wings were already coated with soft, dark sand from earlier that fight, making it harder and harder for her to stay airborne. "That _thing_ might destroy them!" North plunged a sword into the nightmare before him, the sand from the beast starting to creep along the floor under his feet.

Tooth paused, her small body shaking slightly as she watched sand spread from the nightmares they were once fighting to the large spiral that had formed; the black sand began to lift up into the clouded sky. "I… It has JACK!" She looked to the Guardians with large and terrified eyes.

Sandy reacted quickly while the others exchanged looks with widened eyes and expressions of horror. Sandy created a large, golden cloud of sand and rose into the sky after the nightmare spiral, attempting to get as close as he could to it. As soon as the two parties broke through the clouds, black whips began to attack the sandman on all ends. Soon only flashes of light were visible through the clouds, worrying those stuck on the ground.

Tooth frowned, forcing her stiff wings to climb higher into the sky, despite North's and Bunnymund's warnings. She rose above the clouds and was almost thrust back down when a large whip of black sand narrowly missed her head. Sandy fought vigorously, and it seemed as though the spiral was weakening and growing smaller. Sandy was gaining more and more control of the nightmarish sand with each hit, forcing the nightmares to turn to dreams and join his side of the fight. All seemed to be going well until a deafening crack, which made both Tooth and Sandy jump, drummed from the spiral; the smaller spiral of sand began to plummet to the ground.

Tooth yelped and flew after it quickly, somehow hoping to catch the large and heavy spiral.

Bunny saw it coming, thinking it was going to attack those still on the ice, and leapt forward with a growl and a throw of his boomerang. The curved wood simply hit the sand and sunk into it slowly, like the sand was alive and digesting the Guardian's weapon. Tooth stopped flying down when the sand collided with the frozen surface. The small grains all began to slip down into cracks of the ice, disappearing from view and leaving little to no trace of the existing nightmares. Covered in a few grains of sand and in the centre of where sand collided with ice, was Jack. He was standing, head bowed and back-on, which sent a wave of relief through the approaching Guardians.

"I thought we lost you, mate." Bunny spoke through a sigh, but he seemed to speak too soon. The ice boy toppled forward, head smacking into the ice too quickly for anyone to have reacted, his body laying limp on it's side against the cold ice. There was a shocked silence before Sandy lowered himself to the ground to observe the body everyone was afraid to approach. Sandy paled when he noticed the large cone-shaped chunk of black sand piercing the boy's chest. Blood flowed from around the cone quickly, black grains mixed in with the large wound and the spreading liquid.

Sandy looked to the others, his fearful expression encouraging the other Guardians to help. Tooth shakily lowered herself to the ground, her wings painfully folding down against her back. She could feel the sand grinding against the delicate wings, but this pain was forgotten when she approached the dying Guardian.

"I… Pitch…. How could he?" Bunnymund mumbled as he stood by her side, face paling under the thick fur. He knelt next to the boy, carefully moving him so his cleek no longer pressed against the sandy ice. "A pulse…" He murmured.

North quickly reacted when he heard those words, hastily ripping the sleeves off his thick coat and encouraging Bunny to press them firmly against the areas around the sand cone. "We still have time, then…" He pulled out the pocketed transportation orb and threw it.

Bunny nodded, swallowing hard as he stood carrying the unmoving body. He looked down to the pale face and frowned. Jack was smiling up at him in his unconscious state.

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**So, I guess that's it for the first chapter. I promise to get into details about the fight against Pitch as the chapters continue. =)**

**Hope you liked it and PLEASE let me know your thoughts on the story so far. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, just wow! I actually wasn't expecting any favourites or watches or anything like that… especially after 1 Chapter! I wasn't even going to finish writing the second chapter until later the weekend, so thanks for the motivation to finish faster! Thank you to those who reviewed, I really appreciate the feedback. I hope this chapter pleases you as much as the first had.**

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Tears sparkled against Tooth's rosy cheeks as she sat on the small wooden stool in front of Sandy who meticulously picked at her concrete-like wings. She let out a shaky sigh before turning her head to look behind herself. "Are they… are they going to be alright?" She asked softly, pain obvious in her expression. The tooth fairy had never felt soo heavy, the black sand pulling on her wings and ripping them slightly from her delicate skin.

Sandy pulled another grain from tooth's wing, watching her wince. The silent sandman sighed and placed his hands on his lap with a frustrated frown.

Tooth bit her lip and decided to look away again, trying to focus on her surroundings. She looked up to the ceiling of the high room to the intricate golden designs of her sisters before her. They were all safe in her palace for now, having brought a few yetis and elves from the pole to aid them, but they were very far from the South Pole they had just travelled from. Tooth smiled a little before another pull of sand from her wings snapped her back to reality.

"Maybe… maybe you should go see how Jack is doing." The fae nodded, trying to assure herself that Jack's situation was far worse than her own. When they had brought the dying ice child to her palace he was barely breathing. The black cone of sand had begun to shrink and sink into his body, seeping into his blood and forcing the wound to open more. Sandy had tried to force the black sand out, but found the smaller dust-like grains nearly impossible to control; they were much like the ones attached to the fairy's wings. When the sandman was almost completely worn out, North stepped in. He ordered a few of his smaller elves over to the bedside, threading a needle as he went. Shouts between Bunnymund and North filled the room as Toothiana was dragged away to get her own medical attention; at that point she had a feeling that the worst had yet to happen.

Sandy left Tooth, then, making his way solemnly out the door of the emptier room to go to the busier and more crowded one that hosted Jack. The sandman sighed, looking up to the bed where they had bandaged the boy and were already hooking several machines to his frail looking body. Bunnymund was pacing in the western corner of the room while North stood in the centre, ordering his elves and yetis around.

Like usual, no one noticed Sandy at first. "You can _see_ the black sand in his veins!" Bunnymund shouted at North who was beginning to wipe down some of the medical tools they had used to stitch the boy up. "We have no idea what that could do to him!" His accent almost seemed thicker through his anger.

"If we had left him and waited, he would be dead." North responded in a strangely calm tone. He looked to Bunny a little sadly, letting out a heavy breath before sitting down in a chair laid by the bedside. "We can worry about the sand later, right now we sh-"

"He might not be alive _later_, North!" Bunny stopped his pacing, stopping directly in front of the Santa Clause with a large, furry finger pointed at his face. Once again, no one noticed Sandy climb up onto an empty space of the bed, lightly poking at Jack's darkened veins.

His neck and arms seemed to be the worst for discoloured veins, though Sandy couldn't see his chest for the tight bandages. They were blackened and slightly bulging from the skin, looking as though only a little pressure could cause them to break. It looked painful, to say the least, and the sandman was almost afraid to try and gain control of the small specks of sand in fear of hurting the unconscious boy further.

"Has he woken?" Tooth's voice at the door made everyone's head turn in her direction. A few of her babyteeth were hovering around her worriedly, encouraging her to go back to the other room and rest, but Tooth stepped into the room and over to where North sat.

"Uh, no… No he did not." North cleared his throat and Bunnymund slowly lowered his pointed finger at the presence of the other injured Guardian.

"I see…" Tooth whispered, running a shaking hand down the boy's cold and pale cheek. "Please, tell me if he does?"

"We will…" Bunny relaxed a little, going to the fairy's side and trying to pull her away from the bed and back out of the room. "But you should be resting too…" The bunny cringed at the sight of the woman's dark wings that were almost flattened to her back in pain. "We'll get you if anything happens."

"Will you?" She looked at Bunnymund with a powerful glare that made the leporidae swallow hard.

"Why wouldn't I?" He whispered as the two left the room.

"You don't exactly tell me anything anymore…" The woman frowned, glancing away to try and soften her expression. She raised a hand to her face, rubbing the temple of her nose in hard circular patterns. "I'm sorry." She mumbled tiredly. "I'm just worried…"

Bunny pressed his lips together, opening the door to her bedroom, knowing the tooth fairy needed to rest more than any of them. "I know… we all are." He sighed, patting her shoulder. "I'm-" He paused, trying to find the right words. He knew what her slight outburst was really about.

"It's ok…" Tooth stepped into the room. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me." Her expression showed both physical and mental pain.

"Tooth…"

"And I know he doesn't like me. He likes _you_."

Bunny made an apologetic face, stepping back for the fairy to close the door on him. The Guardians knew Tooth had liked Jack, despite Frost's oblivious nature to her feelings. It must have killed Toothiana to walk in on Jack leaning up to kiss Bunnymund just before the battle.

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**So… more twists and plot! I promise you some answers will be revealed in the next chapter… which I will upload either Sunday evening or Monday. Enjoy your weekend and please comment/review! Your encouraging words really help =)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Everyone!**

**I know it's been a super long time since I last posted (and I only wrote you 2 chapters!? What's up with that!?), but I am sorry and will try to update a little more often. Started winter semester at school and the work has been piling up like crazy! I feel like I should be writing one of my 4 papers that's due within the next 2 weeks, but I figured I deserved a break (and that you deserved a third chapter). So enjoy, and I promise this story is NOT dead!**

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"Who's there?" Jack spun on his heel, staff pointing into darkness. He couldn't see anything other than the soft glow from the small, icy snowflakes that formed on the tip of his bonded weapon. He had hoped that the light from it was enough to show him any signs of danger from where he stood, but Jack began to panic as he heard unnerving noises and movements around him. His eyes darted feverishly around, waiting for something to smack into him at any moment.

"Jack?" He heard a familiar voice but couldn't quite place a face to it in his panicked state. He took in a shallow breath, beginning to feel himself tilt off-balance. He felt a sharp pain go through him that made him cringe and drop the wood from his hands. The younger guardian yelped out as the staff hit his feet and dissipated into thousands of tiny glowing snowflakes. His staff was gone, yet he didn't bend down in a panic to try and piece the flakes back together. Jack began to feel feverishly warm as he watched the flakes melt into a pool of water, drying up at his feet at a rapid pace. He gasped as he heard his name being called again, "Jack!".

"N-n…" Jack tried to form a word, closing his eyes now and hunching over where he stood; he felt ill.

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Jack's eyes darted open, glazed over and panic-stricken. "Good. You are awake now." The Russian accented Santa glanced down at him, removing a heavy ice pack from his head and a thermometer from the boy's dry mouth. When Jack seemed to register where he was, and who the bearded man above him was, he relaxed a little.

Jack Frost took in a shaky breath, unable to force his body to move in to a sitting position. "H- How… what happened?" He croaked, closing his eyes halfway again. He felt ill still but he wasn't sure if it was from a fever or from whatever 'pain relieving remedy' was shoved down his throat minutes before; he could smell what was left of the herbal concoction.

"There was a battle, and you were fighting… you were there, you should know!" North crossed his arms and plotted himself down on the chair beside the hospital-like bed. His eyes didn't meet Jack's, which worried the winter guardian a little.

Jack frowned. That was quite literally all he remembered. What he _didn't_ remember was how he had gotten _there_, and in a hospital bed. He was about to open his mouth to speak again when he was cut off by another familiar voice.

"I… Think he wants to know how he got in that bed, _mate_." Bunnymund leaned against the wall in the far side of the room, completely out of Frost's view. Despite the fact that Jack couldn't see him, North noticed that the boy's body became a little less tense at the sound of the bunny's voice. "You were hit." Bunnymund continued, not moving an inch. "Pitch Black shot some sand at you, made it into a sharp dagger-like weapon, and managed to hit you. You fell." Bunnymund let out a slow breath, trying not to let the hitch in his throat show. "You nearly died."

The room was silent and Jack's expression seemed to ponder this as his eyes opened a little more to try and wake himself up. "But I'm not." He murmured, throat painfully dry. "Not _dead_, I mean."

"No." North murmured, getting up to get Jack a glass of water. "You were lucky."

"I didn't think _we_ could…" Jack was beginning to feel dizzy now.

"At the hands of another spirit… we can." Bunnymund confirmed. He knew it was possible, but no spirit has ever tried to actually _kill_ another.

Jack nodded a little, but a frown started to form on his face. "But… why do- do I feel s-so heavy?" His voice had started out as a whisper, fading into an agonizing breath as the numbness began to wear off.

The rabbit pushed himself away from the wall when he heard the strain in Jack's voice and made his way, hurriedly, to the bed.

"There is sand in your body." The Russian called from across the room, filling a glass from the sink. "Either we got the sand _out,_ or you bleed to death." The brute of a man shrugged, walking over.

Bunnymund had stolen North's chair by the bed, watching the boy's facial expressions shift. "We will get it out, though." The bunny murmured, debating on whether or not he should reach out and touch him. Jack's veins looked ready to burst, and his tense body wasn't helping the situation. "Can you relax a little?" The rabbit frowned.

"What… what do _you_ think?" Jack breathed, gasping as he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He was beginning to feel warm again, like he did in the dark dream; he tried his best to level his breaths and force himself to ignore the pain.

"Come on, now, frostbite." Bunnymund hesitated but awkwardly placed his paw over the boy's cooler hand. "You'll hurt yourself." He felt the boy shudder.

Jack forced his head to move to the side, looking directly at Bunnymund. His eyes were glazed over with tears, small droplets of blood mixing with them. The small veins in his eyes were tainted black from the sand and it was clear that his vision was beginning to fade. "I'll… try."

Bunnymund swallowed hard at the sight of him, trying not to change his calmed expression for the other guardian's sake. North had mumbled something about getting Tooth and Sandy, but Bunny didn't quite pay attention. "You'll be ok, Jack." He muttered under his breath, moving his paw quickly off the other's hand when he heard the door burst open.

"Oh my _gosh_ I was soo worried!" Tooth's high-pitched voice, along with loud and busy chatter from dozens of baby-teeth, filled the room. Bunnymund stood and moved away from the bed, noticing Jack try and force a smile for the woman. Clearly the winter spirit was trying not to worry the Tooth Fairy too much. "How are you feeling? Don't even answer that!" She flitted closer to the bed to get a better look at the injured. Her delicate hands touched his arm, looking closely at the bloody tear streaks lining his cheeks.

"I'm fine." Jack did his best to play it 'cool' around the winged woman, but his fake smile soon faded. "Yo-your wings?" He looked to the large, stone-like pieces sticking out of her back.

"It's nothing."

"No… it's something." Frost murmured, eyes fixated on them; he soon realized that they were black from Pitch's sand. "Why are they still-"

"Working on it." Tooth smiled down at him lovingly, cascading a warm hand down his cheek. "I was a little more worried about you…"

"Ya?" Jack raised a brow, knowing she must be in a lot of pain herself. If it was even half of what he was feeling, Jack wondered why the Tooth Fairy worried about _him_ instead of herself.

A few flashy golden signs caught Tooth's attention and snapped her back to reality. She gave a half smile, cheeks a rosy red, and a wordless apology to the Sand Man before stepping back a little. Sandy lifted himself using his golden sand to hover slightly over Jack, studying the veins on his arms and the busted veins in his eyes. He formed a large sad face out of sand over his head.

"Aw, I'm ok Sandy…" Jack muttered half-heartedly, beginning to feel dizzy and weak again, missing the warmth of Tooth's hand on his cheek for some reason. "Tired now…"

Sandy shook his head and waved his hands in front of the winter boy a little frantically, urging him to stay awake for a little longer.

"Mmm, can't." His words slurred a little and his body began to relax as though no longer in pain. Sandy sighed and stepped down his sand-made staircase in defeat.

Bunnymund watched it all closely, a frown still holding on his face. Jack had given Tooth a fake smile and Sandy a half-assed excuse for being 'sleepy'. Why was Jack Frost being honest with _him_? He sighed and went back to the bedside, ignoring the glares from Tooth as he sat. "Sleep for a bit, then." He murmured, "We'll wake you up a little later to get you something to eat, ok frostbite?"

Jack mumbled a noise of what sounded like 'ok, kangaroo'. Bunnymund smiled a little at that and stood back up again in time to see North lay the untouched water on the table on the other side of the bed.

"Pitch is still out there." The normally 'jolly' man grumbled. "We can't just sit here… he will single us out."

Tooth also frowned, pressing her aching back against the wall in hopes that the pressure would help with the pain. "No offence, but I don't think the three of you will be able to do much." She murmured, glancing at Sandy, Bunnymund, and North.

"We will call in some others."

"Like who? You know Spring and Summer are currently in war with eachother, and Old Man Winter retired when Jack became Guardian…" Tooth sighed. "You can't just…"

"Fall." Bunnymund stared at her a little wide-eyed with hope. "There is still Fall."

Sandy nodded excitedly, beginning to form images of apples, flowers, and birds above his head. "And Mother Nature." Bunny smirked, saying what Sandy was thinking.

"What about Jack?" North grinned happily.

"Jack's…" Bunnymund frowned, about to motion to the unconscious boy before he realized who North was talking about. "Oh _that_ Jack."

"Jack Lantern?" Tooth frowned at him. "You know he will probably _join_ Pitch, right? He's not exactly a trustworthy spirit."

North shook his head, "Owes me a favour".

"Alright, see? We'll be just fine." Bunnymund nodded in a satisfied way. "You, Jack, and Sandy can just stay here until you're all healed up, and we'll deal with Pitch." Bunnymund glanced at the Santa who nodded in agreement.

"Fine, as long as those three agree to work with you." Tooth sighed, a frown still fixated on his porcelain-like face. "No need in getting yourself _too_ beat up." She half-glared at Bunnymund when she said this, receiving the exact same look back.

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**Thanks again and please review and favourite this story! Comments really motivate me to write more ;).**

**I promise more soon~**


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